Friday, October 17, 2008

Disney Channel darling Lizzie McGuire, aka Hilary Duff, aka one of the only stars launched by the children's channel who has yet to drink herself into an oblivion, flash her crotch at the paparazzi, or shave her head, go to rehab, and be reincarnated as the next Jane Fonda, has proven that she doesn't suck quite as much as we all thought.

Here's a clip of her latest PSA where she takes a stand against people using the phrase "That's so gay."

Who knew Hilary actually had opinions?

But really, it's not the fact that she's standing up for something that's interesting, it's what she's choosing to stand up for.

The GLBT community has certainly protested the use of this phrase before. Unfortunately, semantics seem to be continually swept aside in the public arena in favor of more pressing and all-encompassing equality issues. It's curious that Duff, a supposed teen idol, has chosen to zoom in on this particular facet of derogatory speech, one that often goes overlooked and unnoticed. More importantly (and perhaps more unfortunately), "That's so gay" has officially become a staple in the everyday American teenage vernacular. Even though the punchline of the ad could have gone farther (and Duff kind of comes across like she has a stick up her ass), a kudos is certainly in order for aiming a message with a specific action point directly at her fan demographic.

If only the girl's upcoming Greatest Hits collection had any kind of substance comparable to this.

-Melea, who promises that her next post will sound less like a Comm Studies essay and more like her wonderful, snarky self